CopyCited 2 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 4748, 2015 WL 1470080
...On remand, the trial court is directed to promptly address Grandparents’ motion for make-up visitation. We also find it necessary to remand to address Grandparents’ entitlement to attorney’s fees and court costs. Grandparents argue that they were entitled to attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to section 61.535, Florida States (2013), which provides: So long as the court has personal jurisdiction over the party against whom the expenses are being assessed, the court shall award the prevailing party, including a state, necessary and reasonable...
...s fees, investigative fees, expenses for witnesses, travel expenses, and expenses for child care during the course of the proceedings, unless the party from whom fees or expenses are sought establishes that the award would be clearly inappropriate. § 61.535(1), Fla....
CopyPublished | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal
...After conducting a two-day evidentiary
hearing, the trial court granted the Mother’s motion to vacate. By separate
2
order, the trial court awarded $180,400.72 in attorney’s fees to the Mother
as the prevailing party, pursuant to section 61.535, Florida Statutes (2020)
(providing for prevailing party attorney’s fees where a party seeks
enforcement of a foreign custody decree)....
...The Father appeals the order
granting the Mother’s motion to vacate, as well as the separate order
awarding attorney’s fees. For the reasons noted below, we affirm the order
vacating the final judgment, but reverse the order awarding the Mother
attorney’s fees under section 61.535.
As to the first order, the trial court granted the Mother’s motion and
vacated that portion of the final judgment relating to “any and all child custody
determinations over the parties’ two minor children and any child-...
...review of an award of attorney's fees. Where entitlement to attorney's fees
depends upon the interpretation of a statute, however, the standard of review
is de novo”) (citations omitted). The Mother was not entitled to an award of
attorney’s fees under section 61.535 because her motion sought to vacate a
final judgment, not to enforce a foreign custody decree under the UCCJEA. 2
2
Section 61.535, Florida Statutes (2020), is contained within Part II of
Chapter 61; Part II is entitled “Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and
Enforcement Act,” and was designed “to avoid jurisdictional competition
between states or countries,...
...void
relitigation of another state's or country's custody decisions, and facilitate
enforcement of another state's or country's custody decrees.” N.B. v. Dept.
of Children and Families,
274 So. 3d 1163, 1167 (Fla. 3d DCA 2019)
(quotation omitted). Section
61.535, entitled “Costs, fee, and expenses” is
a prevailing-party attorney’s fee statute for enforcement proceedings under
the UCCJEA, and provides:
So long as the court has personal jurisdiction over the party
against whom...
...investigative fees, expenses for witnesses, travel expenses, and
expenses for child care during the course of the proceedings,
6
See Nagl v. Navarro,
187 So. 3d 359, 361 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016) (explaining
that section
61.535 “applies where a party seeks enforcement of a custody
decree from another state”)....
...entitled to an award of attorney’s fees under section
61.16, Florida Statutes
(2021). While both statutes authorize the award of attorney’s fees, they each
serve different purposes and require consideration of different factors. As
already indicated, section
61.535 authorizes an award of fees to a prevailing
party in an enforcement proceeding under the UCCJEA....
